Curry sprains ankle as GSW rip Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS – Stephen Curry was in good spirits, but a little annoyed with himself as he stood on crutches in Golden State’s locker room.

After all the work he’d done to lead the Warriors back from a 21-point deficit in New Orleans, he went for a steal that his team didn’t really need in the waning moments, stepped on E’Twaun Moore’s foot and sprained his right ankle.

“It was a dumb play,’’ Curry said. “I got caught on E’Twaun’s shoe as I went by him and couldn’t catch myself. So, obviously, it hurt.’’

Curry scored 31 points, going 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and had 11 assists before his injury, and the Warriors outscored the Pelicans by 30 in the second half for a 125-115 victory Monday night.

Klay Thompson added 22 points and Kevin Durant and Draymond Green each had 19 for the Warriors, who won their fourth straight. After it was over, Curry went for X-rays on his right ankle, which was surgically repaired earlier in his career. Curry said the images “thankfully’’ came back negative.

In Cleveland, Kevin Love scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and LeBron James finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their 12th straight game with a 113-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

The Cavaliers (17-7) can tie a franchise record for consecutive victories with a win Wednesday at home against Sacramento.

Dwayne Wade, who is flourishing as a reserve with the Cavaliers following a season playing for his hometown Bulls, also finished with 24 points to help pace the Cavaliers. Jeff Green added 14 points for Cleveland.

Kris Dunn scored 15 points to lead Chicago (3-19), which has lost nine straight games. Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday also scored 14 points for the Bulls, who also got 13 points from Lauri Markkanen and 10 from Bobby Portis.

In Utah, Alec Burks scored 27 points to spearhead a balanced offensive effort from Utah as it ran past Washington,116-69.

Donovan Mitchell added 21 points for Utah. Rudy Gobert returned to the Jazz lineup after missing 11 games with a knee contusion, and he collected 10 rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes.

Utah won its sixth straight game overall and fifth consecutive home contest.